It is a truth universally acknowledged that middle seats on airplanes are often the least desirable option. Being sandwiched in between two people is the bane of most passengers.
A new design that makes the airplane middle seat much more comfortable has been cleared for takeoff, and could be available to commercial air travelers as early as next spring.
The Federal Aviation Administration approved the S1 seating configuration developed by Molon Labe Seating last month, and are being manufactured by Primus Aerospace in Colorado.
The S1 seat design removes some of the major pain points of modern day flying. The middle seat is slightly lower to the ground, staggered and includes an extra three inches of space, which allows the person sitting in it to use the arm rests, without having to fight for space with neighboring passengers.
"That little bit of stagger means that every single person gets to spread out a little more," Hank Scott, the founder and CEO of Molon Labe Seating, told CNN.
The seats are intended for shorter, domestic flights, though the company is developing a version for longer flights that include more padding and larger TV screens.
Scott said that he expected they would be available on two airlines by April or May of 2020. Though he could not disclose which airlines would feature the seats, he said one of them is based in North America.
